By Walter Broeckx
Of course Untold Arsenal is more than happy with the fact that Arsène Wenger will putting his team on the field for the 1000th time in his Arsenal career. I think nobody who knows Untold Arsenal will have any doubt about that.
And we have already published a few articles about this special event. And probably a few more might follow.
As it really is a special event of course. Arsène Wenger will only be the 4th manager in football history in England that will reach this milestone at the same club. There have been others but only four of them did it at the same club.
This shows that he is loyal to Arsenal. Something Untold has always seen in him and something we are grateful for. He could have walked away when money couldn’t be spent because of the stadium move. But he didn’t. He could have walked as the vitriol and the hate was aimed at him, stoked by the now sycophantic newspapers, but he didn’t.
He helped us through the dark days of building a magnificent stadium. We have highlighted in other articles in the past how much this has been a handicap at first but will be something helpful in the future. He kept us as near to the top in that period and no other manager could have done that. Certainly not the moaner we will face this weekend – the guy who runs away or makes sure he gets sacked when he cannot spend what he wants. Who needs a special one when you’ve got a Special One Thousand?
A rather amazing fact was dug up by the BBC. It shows that Wenger in his first 1000 matches has a better record than the godfather of English football and the PGMOL, Ferguson. Below these lines you can see the table with the matches played and Wenger won more and has more points than Ferguson in that period. Wenger has a higher win percentage than Ferguson. Arsenal under Wenger scored more goals than United. And that in a period when there were no oil money teams around!
| Games | Won | Draw | Lost | Pts | For | Ag | Win % | |
| Wenger | 999 | 572 | 235 | 192 | 1951 | 1845 | 961 | 57.3 |
| Ferguson | 1000 | 564 | 248 | 188 | 1940 | 1784 | 944 | 56.4 |
Before Wenger, Arsenal recorded just 23 Top 4 finishes in 92 seasons but now we are about to make it 18 out of 18 under him. And yet people are critical about him.
The past 8 years say more about Wenger than about the trophies that came before. A man who sacrificed personal glory for stability & growth of the club. And that is something that we never should forget. Untold will not forget this of course. But others will forget it from the moment we drop one point in the league.
So am I happy at this moment? Yes but there is something that is irritating me. Because if you look at the media (and I try to avoid that but I cannot do that completely) you see lots of articles about Wenger and his 1000 matches.
The messages and anecdotes from former players seem nice and give me a good feeling. So I thank the media for that.
But the irritating part of all this is that today the media are joining the bandwagon of Wenger celebration. Suddenly it is all praise and what a great man, manager and person he is. Even though you can feel that it hurt some to write such things.
And that is what I dislike what the press is doing today. They don’t do it because they believe what they write. No, they are doing this while in the background you can hear the noise of knives being sharpened.
Make no mistake. They still hate him since he started his Arsenal career by making them look the fools they are. But today they cannot go around the fact that he managed to get to a 1000 games for this club. And achieved what he did. In ALL his career at Arsenal and I include the last years as an achievement!
So they write articles today in praise of Wenger. But even last week they were stabbing him in the back. The same people that now pretend to have known all those years what a great manager he was. But just as the AAA (who remain silent today) the journalists (for their articles today I will not call them the usual name I give them) will put the knives in his back when we drop another point.
Untold has been praising Wenger since the day this blog was started. When we praise Wenger we believe in what we say. But that lot…they just do this to get clicks and sell papers. If you have been beating Wenger down all these years I don’t want you to come out now and praise him. By doing this you only show yourself as the hypocrites you are. You just show that you can speak with forked tongue.
And that is something I really don’t like. So forgive me dear journalists that I don’t believe a word what you say today. If you cannot support the way the club is run, and the way it stands up against the oil money and against financial doping, then don’t support us on a special day like today. This goes for Arsenal of course and we support our team always. But this certainly goes for a man who has done more for Arsenal, even in the last years, than any other manager has done before (apart maybe for Chapman).
Long Live Arsène Wenger! Long Live Arsenal! May the football gods give you (and us) a great game nr. 1000. If there is one person who deserves this, it is Arsène Wenger.
——————-
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal
Hear hear! We have all been privileged to live through the last 17.5 years.
But one thing is missing – a new signed contract!
Arsene – please SIGN DA TING!
I was suprised to see Arsene 1000 articles everywhere – even the mirror and Daily FAil had postivie sounding articles
Like you say , they are sharpening their knives and biding their time ….
Thanks ,Arsene , and here’s to another 1,000 more !
Thanks for the joy that you have given us and of that yet to come .
Here is an award winning song by a Malaysian legend titled ,” A thousand million smiles ” ,as a tribute.
From a time when Malaysians were winners .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36zABhvDSmw
Thank you. Great post.
“Oh hello Sir, how nice to see you back so soon Sir”
“yes thank you waiter,I must admit the chicken was rather under-done last Sunday”
“yes I know sir Im very sorry about that Sir, I did mention it to the chef”
“Now waiter”
“yes Sir?”
“do you have Chelsea buns à la Russe on the menu today?”
“we do Sir”
” well I would like those, burnt to a cinder please with French Gentlemans relish on the side”
“very well Sir”
“and waiter can you bring me a two and a half ft long garden cane with the buns?”
“yes Sir of course, but whatever for?”
“Why to give the buns a long hard thrashing man, to thrash them until they are reduced to a pile of poop,thats why”
“I say Sir should I bring you a napkin Sir there seems to be some spittle at the corner of your mouth…”
“just bring me those fucking buns and the cane man,and stop being some damned insolent before I set the dogs on you”
“well well Sir, as you say Sir”
“yes, I do say so my man, I do, well tell the chef to get on with it then and no blasted injuries in the kitchen”
“yes Sir”
COYG! Aha and amen and happy anniversary dear Arsène Wenger,the greatest manager, a true inspiration and a man of great integrity in a difficult time who changed the Arsenal to something that I didnt think would ever see.
MR Wenger does not need a contract to show his loyalty to Arsenal. He has moulded a good club into a great club, bringing it up to date with sporting excellence.
1000 games, a lot more hours and many many words of disrespect given to this selfless gem of a man.
We at Untold salute you for your endearing attitude & honourable elegance. You teams always play the beautiful game.
Thank you.
Arsene Wenger is unique, we are uniquely blessed to have him, thank you David Dein for getting hold of him.
I have a rather expensive bottle of champagne waiting to be opened, if we win the league, FA cup or both, I will certainly have a drink, but of an inferior brand. This special bottle awaits one thing….Wenger signing a new deal regardless of what does or does not happen before. Not sure what I will do with it if he does not sign, but the omens are hopefully looking encouraging.
Well done Arsene Wenger, I hope you get some time to reflect on the amazing things you have done for this club, many fans, many players and football in general. Wenger is the last of the great long term visionary club building , developmental managers, a throwback to the days of Chapman.
Excellent Post,
And all the comments above are spot on, and I cannot think of anything to add.
A decent, honest, intelligent man of integrity — yes, indeed, — Arsene Wenger is a unique manager, and the complete antithesis of the appalling Mourinho.
Come on team, do it for Arsene!!
From twitter, @washyourmouth1:
All over the World Wenger’s 1000 game marked by players, journos, fans. Arsenal fan groups (bin dippers, not so nice but dim Tim. The AAA.) stay silent.
@Walter
Fascinating stat you provided. Looking at the bible that is Wikipedia (must be right :-)) it looks like 25 top 4 finishes since being promoted (for the last time) to Division 1 (as was) up until Wenger. None before then. If we make it this year, as you say, that will be 18 out of 18 under him. George Graham had 6 in total I think. Incredible.
Arsene Wenger, a man of integrity and the best manager, may you continue at Arsenal as long as you can.
Come on the team, let’s give Arsene Wenger a day to remember by beating Chelsea today.
Forward on.
Just turned the sound down on McManaman on BT Sport and turned to this article.
Spot on, Walter!
We may be losing 4 – 0 but who cares. PGMOL decides the EPL.
We are not defeated when our players are robbed of fair play.
Menace don’t be so pathetic.
Excellent article.